Ads Top

Empty Treasury: I Almost Absconded - President Muhammadu Buhari

President
Muhammadu Buhari spoke yesterday on his reaction when he met an almost empty
treasury on resumption of work. “I almost absconded,” he said during a parley
with members of the Senior Executive Course 38 (2016) of the National Institute
for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, at the Presidential Villa,
Abuja.

He noted that
daily oil production was 2.1 million barrels between 1999 and 2015, but there
was virtually no savings despite the huge income during the period.

Infrastructure,
Buhari said, was dilapidated.

The situation
was worsened, he said, by low oil prices which tumbled from over $100 per
barrel to below $30 per barrel under his tenure.

Digressing
from his prepared speech, Buhari said: “For 16 years and eight consecutive
years, governments of the other party and you know that there was unprecedented
revenue realised, the oil projection which can be verified was 2.1 million
barrels per day.

“1999 to 2015,
the average cost of each Nigerian barrel of oil was $100 per barrel. When we
came it fell to less $30 per barrel and it is now laying between 40 and 50.

“Actually, I
felt like absconding because 27 out of 36 states in Nigeria cannot pay salaries
and we know they have no other source than to depend on salaries.

“And I asked,
‘any savings?’ I was told there was no savings, And I asked what have you done
on agriculture, power, rail, roads. Nothing. You know more than I do because
you move around. I have not been moving around since after elections but you
do, how many of the Trunk A roads are still good enough? How many power do we
have, although there are some elements of sabotage.?

“I was told
the money was used to import food and fuel. I didn’t believe the answer and I
still don’t believe it. Until now substantial number of people in the East eat
gari and groundnut, in the West pounded yam, cassava, vegetables, in the North
tuwo, which is made from any of the grains, millet, sorghum.

“They eat it
in the night and warm it in the morning and eat it and take fura danono in the
afternoon. How many of those people can afford foreign food?”

“Then, they
say I should check out the petroleum, the legislature dedicated 445,000 barrels
per day for internal consumption and that is just 60 per cent of our
requirements. I said ok, what of the 40 per cent? The marketers that are
bringing it just present documents, papers are just stamped and monies are
taken away.

“This is the
type of things that the Nigerian elite are doing for our own country. When you
go back, look at your colleagues and encourage them to be truly Nigerians.”

In his
prepared speech, Buhari said that he was glad that the Course 38 participants
took up the challenge he threw at the management of NIPSS last year to look at
strengthening institutional mechanisms for poverty reduction and inclusive
development in the 2016 Course.

He said he was
happy the report was submitted to him.

“I have
carefully noted the report, most especially its findings and policy
recommendations. I recall with pleasure that when I was giving this task, six
months after this administration came into office, the selection of the theme
was not only apt but also timely.

“Today,
poverty reduction and inclusive development have become pillars of this
administration and very close to my heart,” the President added.

The President
said he had looked forward to receiving the report because it touched on one of
the fundamental problems confronting the nation.

“The report
comes at a time when our economy is experiencing a downturn and all efforts are
being made by this administration to get our country moving again.”

He insisted
that the economic recession is not the making of his administration, but a
consequence of bad management of the economy in the past couple of decades.

Buhari also
maintained that recession is not limited to Nigeria, stressing that there are
far worse cases than Nigeria’s.

“Let us have
faith in our great nation that we will come out of this recession vibrant and
strong. I am glad that the report presented today has given us reason to keep
faith in our ability to overcome our challenges.

“There is no
doubt that poverty for decades has been a major challenge to us as a nation
despite the country’s enormous wealth. Several policies and programmes that
have been implemented over the years, as rightly observed by the report, have
not broken the cycle of poverty in Nigeria.”

The
Acting Director-General of NIPSS, Jonathan Juma, said a lot can be done by the
institute if more budgetary support is given to it.

Empty Treasury: I Almost Absconded - President Muhammadu Buhari
Reviewed by Oluwaseun Bello
on
November 04, 2016
Rating: 5